http://www.towleroad.com/2007/07/nate-berkus-doe.html
Nate Berkus Does Your Coffee Table
Oprah’s home design guru Nate Berkus prepares to hypnotize you on the
forthcoming August issue of OUT magazine in which he mainly discusses
how he found himself on Oprah and what he’s got in the wings in terms
of his design career. But he does briefly mention his January 2005
appearance on the show shortly after his partner Fernando Bengoechea
was killed in the Southeast Asian tsunami:
“After the show, I got a tremendous amount of letters and e-mails from
kids across the country who were coming out. They said that watching
the way my relationship with Fernando was presented on the show gave
them the courage to say to their friends and parents, ‘You know what,
I’m gay just like him and I want to have what he had.’ The most
touching correspondence I received came from an 18-year-old who said,
‘I’d never seen a gay couple’s love story presented like that on TV
before. Now that I’ve seen it, I realize I’d be wasting a lot of time
if I didn’t get out there and try to find it for myself.’ It was
amazing, and it makes me really proud, because somebody somewhere was
watching the show and it changed how they viewed themselves and their
own opportunities to live in a successful gay relationship…I wasn’t
concerned about presenting my relationship with Fernando to the world.
I wanted people to know about our life and what I lost.”
No groundbreaking revelations on whether or not another significant
other has entered the picture, but those of you with fantasies of
setting up house with Berkus should be pleased he has at least make it
to your coffee table.
You may have missed…
http://www.towleroad.com/towleroad/2005/01/its_not_just_th.html
Nate’s Long Good-bye
In a tear-soaked, classic Oprah farewell, interior decorator Nate
Berkus yesterday told the story of his experience with the tsunami in
Sri Lanka, where he lost his partner Fernando Bengoechea.
“It’s not just the sight — it’s the sound and the smell that will be
with me forever,” Berkus said, describing in horrific detail how the
scene unfolded in a hut about 50 feet from the shoreline.
“We were in a room making plans for the day. All of a sudden water
started coming in between the wall and the roof…Fernando jumped up
and started lifting our things onto the desktop. I said, ‘What is
this?’ Then we heard a crack and I was pressed against the wall and
the floor.”
Berkus described how the hut’s roof was torn off by the force of the
water and the immediate sensation of drowning. He claimed that “a
heightened sense of consciousness” allowed his survival instinct to
take over.
“[Fernando and I] ended up popping up together and he swam over to me
and said ‘Stay together,’ and then a minute later we were drowning
again, and then we popped up together again, and the water was
calm…we were trying to hold onto each other. You were just swirling,
just trying to keep your face up,” explained Berkus..
When another wave took them the designer thought they would become
separated. “And then we both popped up about three feet away from one
another. Fernando and I came back to one another and there was a
telephone pole and we both held each other.”
Finally, his last moments of contact with Fernando provide the
painful, wrenching picture so many tsunami survivors experienced as
they saw their loved ones taken from them…
“And I felt his hand on the back of my shirt and I felt his hand slip
away…”
Berkus choked back tears and was reunited with some of the other
survivors he spent time with at Arugam Bay. Marcello Bengoechea, who
had set up the recently deleted “Fernando and Nate” blog was also on
hand. There has been speculation as to why the blog has been deleted
but I can only imagine that finding a sense of closure necessitates
the difficult letting go.
The lack of closure and feelings of helplessness must be the most
difficult aspect for victims of a disaster like this — the absence of
a corpse, the neverending search for details and answers.
All the criticism of the attention placed on Nate and Fernando because
of their “celebrity” connections seems an attempt to place the scope
of the disaster in perspective for many people. Certainly there are
thousands of stories as tragic as Nate’s. The sense of “milking” this
particular story for TV ratings is unavoidable. Yet putting a face to
the tragedy is important in the public’s comprehension of it. And the
fact that Nate and Fernando were a gay couple behaving like any other
couple on that beach is something the world has now seen.
And that’s important. For outside of the tragedy they became unwitting
examples that a gay couple’s love for one another can be as real (and
as ordinary) as anyone else’s.
AbaY at its Best
Surf Forecast for Arugam Bay in real time on magicseaweed.com
Press Coverage of the situation in Arugam Bay
Link to the old website of the Arugam Bay Hotel Association
Huge and often updated photo collection from Arugam Bay
Former Discussion Forum - now replaced by arugam.info
AbaY Hotel Intro
- # Introduction to all AbaY 'Hotels' To give some idea of their location, all 'hotels' are numbered. Beginning with #001 at the bridge, Northern end of Arugam Bay
- #001 Star Restaurant
- #01 Stardust Hotel
- #02 Rainbow Village
- #03 Galaxy Lounge
- #04 AbaY Beach Resort
- #05 Beach Hut
- #06 Hotel Sea Shore
- #07 Friendship Restaurant
- #08 Tiffany Hotel
- #09 Water Music
- #10 Nishantha Restaurant
- #11 Nestha Resaturnat
- #12 Sam's Hut
- #13 Waves of Love
- #14 Rock View Beach Hotel
- #15 Tsunami Hotel
- #16 Midbay Hotel
- #17 Tropicana Hotel
- #18 Sea Wind Hotel
- #19 Sea Rock Hotel
- #20 Aloha Cabanas
- #21 Danish Villa
- #22 Roccos Hotel
- #23 Food Garden Restaurant
- #24 Nina Cabanas
- #25 Lucky Leprechaun Hotel
- #26 Farath Guest House
- #27 Mermaid Village
- #28 Why Not? Restaurant
- #29 Ali's Restaurant
- #30 Blue Ocean Hotel
- #31 Royal Garden Hotel
- #32 Tri Star Hotel
- #33 Sunrise Hotel
- #34 Orient Beach Restaurant
- #35 Shanoon Beach Resort
- #36 Zara Beach Rest
- #37 Hideaway Hotel
- #38 Cafe del Mar
- #39 Hillton Hotel
- #40 Hello Madam & Gekko Restaurant
- #41 Surf & Sun Resort
- #42 Deen's Hotel
- #43 Home Needs Shop
- #44 East Beach Hotel
- #45 Sooriya's Hotel
- #46 AbaY Surf Shop
- #47 Hawkys Surf Shop
- #48 Sano Hotel
- #49 Perera's Restaurant
- #50 Siam View Hotel -SVH-
- #51 Hangloose Hotel
- #52 Subashi Beer Bar
- #53 Meena's Beer Bar
- #54 Shashni Beach Resort
- #55 Seven Sea Restaurant
- #56 Tharaka Restaurant
- #57 Beach View
- #58 Rupas Cabanas
- #59 Ruwangi Place Restaurant
- #60 Lahiru Place Hotel
- #61 Fishing Net Hotel
- #62 Palm Grove Holiday Inn
- #68 Mambo's Chill Out Surf Cafe A small Hikkaduwa resort at Arugam Bay
- #69 East Surf Cabanas
AbaY Hotel web site links
- Siam View Hotel The only Thai sea side resort in Ceylon
- Hillton Hotel Rahim's Hillton Hotel
- Stardust Hotel A top Danish managed resort
- PottuVille Point Resort Invest and relax nr. AbaY!
- Rupas Hotel Rupas Hotel & Restaurant
- Galaxy Lounge Galaxy Lounge Hotel
- Roccos Hotel Roccos Beach Front Hotel
- Tsunami Hotel, AbaY Est. 1999
- The Danish Villa Colonial style bungalow for rent
- Aloha Cabanas Tom Rieder's Aloha Cabanas
Best Photos of AbaY
- Walk from the Bridge to the end of AbaY 2007 Let us be your eyes and take a stroll!
- Romantic Arugam Bay Love photo selection
- Surf Photos of Arugam Bay Best Surfing photos 2007
- Arugam Bay Wild Life Wild Life selection photos
- Fun in Arugam Bay Having a good time in AbaY
- Is AbaY Dangerous? No Problem!
- Loving Couples are happy at Arugam bay People deeply in LOVE come to AbaY. Why?
- Party at Arugam Bay AbaY: An ideal Party resort!
- Another walk on the wild life Wild Photos
- PottuVille Point Photo Impresions The Point nr. Arugam Bay - Sri Lanka's finest resort to be
Blogs
- Arugam Bay Tour & Travel blog Tourist Services guide and local PR
- CASP rebuild Ampara blog PR on CASP ideas of rebuilding Ampara
- Cerno - A blog by a Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka Cerno. A blog by a Sri Lankan who lived abroad
- Frazer's Blog A UNOPs guys experiences on the East Coast
- Janis Kirpitis Blog - partly in Latvian Janis impressions as he assisted "Help" NGO
- Jessica Lees Blog A US lady's views, vision and experiences
- Jo-Anne Liburd's S.L. Impressions Jo-Anne is a Canadian working for Sewage Lanka
- Lanka Page Inside the smoking gun of Sri Lanka
- Papersurfer Papersurfer
- Sports sans Frontieres Niccolas au PottuVille - in French
Commercial Attacks
- Arson, murder, looting attacks in Sri Lanka non-political, but commercial dispute stories
Deutsche Freunde
- Excelent Simple Wisdom Simple Wisdom - Florian & Daniella
- German supporters of Ceylon and AbaY SLB - Sri Lanka Board
- Lanka First Web Site Lanka First- Country Information
- Reisespinne Global Travel Forum in German Language
- Saffa Org Situation in Arugam Bay
- Sri Lanka Forum Information & Discussions in German language
- Sri Lanka Info (In German) Neue Version des 'Spider' Forum Romanums
Friends
- Andrea Quintarelli in AbaY Croix Rouge and Italian fund raiser A. Q.
- Arugam Bay Tourist Association Mercy Corps sponsored site
- Cerno - A blog by a Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka Cerno. A blog by a Sri Lankan who lived abroad
- Hilltop Survivor Project Post Dec. 2004 survivor's Group
- paddle4relief Tim's private help for Arugam Bay
- Paddle4Relief Small, effivient private help organization
- Responsible Tourism Partnership Promoting good Tourism in Sri Lanka
- Supporting children through art Kids Card project and other help for AbaY
Home, Cooking, Recipes
- Somlak's Kitchen site Asian Cooking made easy
Literature about AbaY
- Der Krokodil Felsen A Book about Arugam Bay
Religious blogs
- Ancient sites are mentioned Magul Maha Vihara, Lahuga is promoted
- PottuVille Prayer Times Mosque Times at Arugam Bay and PottuVille
Safaries & Wild Life
Sri Lanka's Wild life Experts- Eco Guide Association CEGA AbaY Tour Guides
- Lahugala National Park THE home of Sri Lanka's wild Elephants
Stop over suggestions
- Suryanamaska Angela's Hotel near kandy
- Tree Tops Jungle Lodge Adventure near Buutala
Surf & Weather Info.
- Elephant Rock Surf Break Info by Wannasurf Wannasurf Info on Elephant Roack
- Okanda Surf Info by Wannasurf Wannasurf Info on Okanda Surf Break
- Peanut Farm Surf Info by Wannasurf Wannasurf Info on Peanut Farm break
- Storms, Typhoons, Clouds Real Time Satellite Views of Asia
- Surf Forecast by Magic Seaweed Surf & Swell Predictions and reports
- Wannasurf Info on Arugam Bay main break Arugam Bay Main Break Surf Info by Wannasurf
- Wannasurf Info on PottuVille Point break PottuVille Point Surf Info by Wannasurf
- Wind Guru Kite- and Wind Surf Information
Taxi Sharing
- ArugamTaxi@Gmail.com Throntree Taxi suggestions
Traveller's Reports
- Thorntree Lonely Planet
Weather at Arugam Bay
- INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPT INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPT
- Weather Satellite Picture in Real time Weather Satellite (India & Sri Lanka)
Arugam Bay Photo Gallery
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